Comrade Sadhu Singh Takhtupura

Chandigarh, February 22
Peeved at the alleged protection given to the assassins of kisan leader Sadhu Singh Takhtupura and to carry forward their struggle for the withdrawal of the Badal-Kalia committee recommendations, 22 organisations of farmers and farm workers have decided to launch a statewide phased agitation starting February 24.
These organisations, mostly with Leftist leanings, have given a call for holding on February 24 day long demonstrations outside the offices of deputy commissioners in the state. 
Leaders of various organisations, including the Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta), the Bharti Kisan Union (Revolutionary), the Bharti Kisan Union, the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, the Kirti Kisan Sabha, the Democratic Kisan Sabha, the Punjab Kisan Sabha, the Khetibari Kisan Vikas Front, the Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union and the All-India Khet Mazdoor Union, held a meeting in Ludhiana yesterday to finalise details of the agitation.
Talking to The Tribune, Joginder Singh Ugrahan and Sukhdev Singh Kokri of the Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta) said all participant organisations paid tributes to Sadhu Singh Takhtupura and declared him a martyr of the kisan movement. Tributes were also paid to Zora Singh Chakar who died during the Gurdaspur agitation.
Holding an Akali MLA, considered close to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, besides a few others responsible for the murder of Sadhu Singh Takhtupura, the leaders of these organisations held that the actual culprits were being shielded and efforts were being made to get them a clean chit.
Eyewitnesses had named 12 persons in their statements to the police. Instead of taking action against these 12 persons, the state government had transferred the SSP (Rural) of Amritsar while the sarpanch of Sorrian village, though in safe custody of the police, was yet to be arrested in the case.
By setting up a special investigating team, they alleged, efforts were on to keep the Akali MLA out of the case. All these actions, they held, were indicative of the government’s support to the culprits.
Both Ugrahan and Kokri held that Sadhu Singh Takhtupura was murdered when he was going from village to village to mobilise support for the farmers’ agitation against the recommendations of the Badal-Kalia committee.
The agitation would continue with vigour and a statewide rally against the Badal-Kalia committee report would be held at Jagraon on March 15.



Moga, February 18
Hundreds of people including farmers, trade union leaders and the local villagers attended the cremation of kisan leader Sadhu Singh Takhtupura, organizing secretary of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta) at his native village at Takhtupura in Moga district on Thursday.
He was brutally murdered in broad daylight with iron rods and swords in the border village of Bhindian Saida in Amritsar district on Tuesday.
The 68-year-old Sadhu Singh retired as a teacher in 2000 and has four sons. His elder son passed away recently leaving behind four children.
A senior leader of the BKU Sukhdev Singh Kokri told The Tribune that they had planned to donate Sadhu Singh’s body to a medical college but the doctors refused on the grounds that the police had kept the body for more than 30 hours in their custody without proper care. As such, the body was of no use to them. They had to cremate the body then as per the rituals, he added.
Meanwhile, the kisan union had lodged an FIR at Lopoke police station in Amritsar district in which they had named four suspects including former SAD MLA Veer Singh Lopoke, his son-in-law and SHO Rachpal Singh, sarpanch of Sorian village Kulwinder Singh and chairman of the Block Samiti Sarbhjit Singh Lodhinanagal.
Kokri had alleged that their union was struggling for farmers’ rights in this belt of the state in the Majha region for a long time and these people had clashed with them many a times in the past few years.
Expressing his faint hope of getting justice from the state government, Kokri, while addressing the gathering announced that had decided to launch a state-wide agitation from February 24 onwards. “We will hold massive rallies at all district headquarters across the state demanding the arrest of the culprits,” he said.
It may be mentioned that Takhtupura, on the behalf of BKU, had recently organised a big rally at Ajnala against the police for allegedly killing a youth in custody.

Intellectuals seek CM’s help to hand over body of PCPA leader to family

Statesman News Service
KOLKATA, 1 MarCH: Intellect-uals, writers and theatre personalities have written a letter to the chief minister seeking his intervention to hand over the body of Lalmohan Tudu, president of People's Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCPA) who was killed by the police on 22 February.
The intellectuals who have signed the letter included Mahashweta Devi, Tarun Sanyal, Bibhas Chakraborty, Bratya Basu and Kaushik Sen.
Tudu's body is lying at the Jhargram morgue after the postmortem was conducted. The signatories alleged that the police had refused to hand over the body to the relatives of Tudu. They demanded that the body should be handed over to the family members and a team should be allowed to be present at the last rites of Tudu. They alleged that by not handing over the body to the family members the district administration has flouted the basic human rights.
Meanwhile, a team of the Association for the Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) today met the state home secretary Mr Ardhendu Sen and urged him to take initiative to hand over the body of Tudu to his relatives. A spokesman for the APDR said that Tudu was killed by the police without any provocation in a fake encounter. “This is the technique which the police follows to eliminate those who oppose them by showing a fake encounter. He said bodies of two other PCPA members were also killed by the police along with Tudu in the fake encounter could not be traced as yet.
Earlier, a team of the APDR had met the district magistrate of west Midnapur and demanded handing over of the body to the family members. Intellectuals said as their is not air conditioning system at the Jhargram morgue the body must have started to deacy.
Intellectuals said they would write to like minded people across the country to mobilise public opinion to put pressure on the state government so that the body is handed over to the family members as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, a prayer is to be made to the Calcutta High Court tomorrow to hand over the body of Tudu to his relatives. The plea for an unlisted hearing of the matter would be made on behalf of Mr Dhaniram Kisku, a relative of Tudu and Association for the Protection of Democratic Rights, a human rights organisation.
Tudu's bullet riddled body was found at his ancestral village at Narcha village in Midnapur (west) last month. He had come to meet his daughter on the eve of the madhyamik examition.
Home secretary Mr Ardhendu Sen today said that nobody has yet claimed the body and if the next to kin of Tudu applies for the body he/she will be allowed to have it.

Source: The Statesman, 3 February 2010

http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=321158:intellectuals-seek-cms-help-to-hand-over-body-of-pcpa-leader-to-family&catid=42:bengal&from_page=search

Hint of scarred cops getting tough - Sections of police voice support for shoot-on-sight strategy

Day before yesterday Lalmohan Tudu, president of People's Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA), Sumitra Murmu and Yubaraj Murmu was brutally were murdered by joint forces. He returned his home after couple of months and the joint forces drove him out of the house and shot dead. Joint forces on the other hand said that he was killed in an encounter. In India death in fake encounter is quite common and is widely used to wipe out voices of protest.

This blog condemns all forms of state repression and the cold blooded murder of Lalmohan Tudu, Sumitra Murmu and Yubaraj Murmu.

Bellow is the report of The Telegraph on this killing and how state machinery prepares itself for more.

Pronab Mondal

Kantapahari (West Midnapore), Feb. 23: Police say People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities president Lalmohan Tudu died when they retaliated against a Maoist attack on their camp here.

The committee, and Tudu’s neighbours, insist he was killed in a “fake encounter” at Narcha village, 3km from the Kantapahari camp.

If what the villagers say is true and the indications from a section of the police are co-rrect, the crackdown against Maoists is set to see a new strategy emerge from the debris of the Shilda EFR camp, where 24 policemen were massacred by the guerrillas last Monday.

“The brutal attack at Shilda has firmed up our resolve to strike in equal measure against the Maoists,” a police officer said. “The instruction we have been given is to go for the kill instead of trying to make an arrest if we sense any danger whatsoever.”

With charges and counter-charges flying thick and fast, it is not known if Tudu last night had posed any danger to the police. But if what the residents of Narcha say is true, Tudu’s is the first major case of the new strategy being put into operation.

“This is a strategy that had worked very well during the Naxalite movement of the late ’60s,” said an officer. “Then the strategy was kill on sight; do not wait to make arrests, produce the culprits in court and offer them chance to get bail. After Shilda, there is a strong opinion among top officers in favour of the same strategy.”

This officer could not say for sure what happened in Tudu’s case, but he said he would not be surprised if it was an instance of a new “shoot-on-sight” strategy being put into operation.

Several officers pointed out that such a strategy could never be official and no such order could be issued from the top. “Only the force should informally be informed that no cop would get into trouble for shooting dead a person associated with the Maoists even if that person is posing no immediate danger,” the officer said. “This should work well.”

Explaining that Tudu was heading a “Maoist frontal organisation” meant to “aid and abet” their cause, an officer said such a strategy could “justifiably” be used against a person “waging war against the nation”.

“What is the (People’s) committee if not an outfit run by the Maoists to help their cause?” asked an officer. “Can there be any justification for using the soft hand with persons associated with such a committee? They are all Maoists in the garb of running a movement for tribals.”

A policeman admitted that post-Shilda, they had unofficial instructions that if they caught a hardcore Maoist deep in a forest or a secluded spot, they should not take the trouble of bringing him back to the camp. “No one wants to talk about it, but the thinking now is not to have any mercy on those who commit such heinous crimes as killing innocent cops,” an officer said.

Hectic lobbying by arms producers

Sri Krishna
NEW DELHI, 16 FEB: With the defence budget for 2010-11 likely to be enhanced as indicated yesterday by the defence minister, Mr AK Antony, hectic lobbying has begun at the ongoing sixth DefExpo here by top arms producers of the world for a slice of the cake.
Russia (and the erstwhile Soviet Union) has been the biggest seller of arms to this country but it is now facing stiff competition from other nations.
A former defence ministry official observed that ever since the breakup of the Soviet Union and with Russia regularly hiking up price of defence equipment as in the case of the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, arms manufacturers have been looking at making profits and this is one of the major reasons that other competitors are stepping in.
The four-day biennial event to showcase some of the latest defence equipment by leading manufacturers does not appear to have been impacted by the economic slowdown and recession that had affected many countries as the $11 billion that India spends every year on foreign military supplies is up for grabs.
The arms makers seem to have taken the hint from the minister of state for defence, Dr Pallam Raju, who said that India was “looking for partnerships and co-development arrangements and formation of joint venture in critical technical areas and the defence expo, which is a one-stop shop, is an ideal platform for doing business in defence”.
With the weaponry in the Indian armed forces being mostly of Russian make, the Russians are indeed lobbying hard for their aircraft for the 126 multi-role medium range combat aircraft (MMRCA) that India is planning to purchase as part of its modernisation drive.
All the major bidders for the 126 MMRCA to be bought by the IAF have their stalls at the Defexpo almost cheek by jowl and have been lobbying hard for their product. “India is the number one partner for the Russian defence industry, since it is not only the volume that is exported, but also the quality of the equipment and scientific technical potential that we put in India’s industrial military complex within this cooperation,” said Mr Victor Komardin, deputy director general of Russia’s Rosoboronexport arms corporation.
One of the biggest success stories of Indo-Russian collaboration in the weapons system is the Brahmos, the only supersonic cruise missile in the world. Both countries are equal partners in this project, contributing their own areas of expertise.
“We are very strong in guidance technology and software,” said Dr Sivathanu Pillai, CEO of Brahmos Aerospace, “whereas Russia is very strong in propulsion and cruise missile technology. So having technology available in both, and respecting each other in trust, we formed a joint venture”.

Source: The Statesman, 17 February 2010

http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=320170&catid=36

Swapan Dasgupta expires while in UAPA custody - A Sanhati Statement

Swapan Dasgupta, editor and publisher of the Bengali edition of the political magazine People’s March passed away on 2nd February, while he was in the custody of West Bengal police. He had been arrested in October 2009 under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), for allegedly publishing Maoist literature, along with other political activists. Till date, he had not been chargesheeted. As per the official records, People’s March is a legal publication and therefore not a banned literature as claimed by sections of mainstream press.

Swapan Dasgupta was suffering from blood cancer and according to activists in West Bengal, he was not provided with the necessary medical attention, including crucial blood transfusions, while he was in custody. He was hospitalized in the month of January 2010, only when his condition became critical because of the lack of proper treatment. Therefore, his death is a case of utter negligence, if not an instance of premeditated systemic violence, by the state apparatus which seems determined to eliminate voices of dissent in one way or the other. Such circumstances also make this incident the first case of custodial death under the UAPA. We strongly condemn the role of the state in the death of Swapan Dasgupta and demand that the UAPA be repealed without further delay, and people arrested under UAPA be released.

Swapan Dasgupta’s body will be taken out from Peace Haven in Kolkata at 10 am on 3rd Febuary 2010. There will be a protest march at the Kolkata book fair, starting at 4.00 pm from the APDR stall, followed by a condolence/protest meet at the Mont Marte open stage from 5.45-6.45 pm.

Sanhati

http://sanhati.com/articles/2096/

Suman slams rebel-fight law

Calcutta, Feb. 2: Kabir Suman today publicly expressed his anger at the Centre for en- forcing the “undemocratic” Unlawful Activities Prevention Act to combat Maoists, keeping up his penchant for embarrassing Mamata Banerjee.

After paying tributes to the publisher of the People’s March who died at SSKM Hospital today, the Jadavpur MP said: “The death of Swapan (Dasgupta) has again brought to light that the UAPA, under which he was arrested, grossly violates human rights. I believe he was wrongfully arrested.” 

The singer-MP made it clear he did not support the central law. “Just because the government has power and the law-enforcing agencies are at its disposal, it cannot brand anyone a traitor or anti-national and put him behind bars under the UAPA.”

Dasgupta had been arrested from Calcutta on the night of October 6. He was hospitalised in December with cancer.

Suman’s observations about the UAPA left Mamata red-faced as her party is part of the government that took the decision to enforce the law to fight Maoists.

Source: The Telegraph February 3, 2010

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100203/images/03suman1.jpg

Under trial UAPA prisoner Swapan Dasgupta Passed Away

Photo: Indian Express

Today at 5 am Swapan Dasgupta, Bangla People's March (a registered magazine) editor and an under trial UAPA prisoner passed away at S.S.K.M. Hospital, Kolkata. 

It is the sheer negligence from part of the jail administration and government that killed Dasgupta. 

Swapan Dasgupta, first UAPA martyr will be forever in the hearts of progressive and democratic people.